Scuffles break out at Indian temple town over entry of menstrual age women

NILAKKAL, India - Hundreds of police guarded the main gateway to an
Indian hill temple on Wednesday to prevent clashes between women of
menstrual age entering for the first time in centuries and conservative
Hindu groups out to stop them.
The Sabarimala temple in the southern state of Kerala has been the cause
of tension since India’s top court ruled last month that banning some
women from entering infringed on freedom to worship.

Hardline Hindu groups have threatened to commit mass suicide to prevent
women from entering in a cultural battle between the Supreme Court, that
has recently delivered landmark judgments legalizing gay sex and
adultery, and traditional groups that still hold sway in a deeply
religious country.

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The groups, that include Shiv Sena, a former ally of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, say the prohibition on women of
menstrual age entering is required to appease the temple’s chief deity,
Ayyappan, depicted as a yoga-practising God considered eternally
celibate by followers.

Police said on Wednesday around 500 police, including 100 women, have
been deployed at Nilakkal, the gateway to the temple around 18 km (11
miles) from the site, where many of the protests have been taking place.

“Nobody will be allowed to prevent anybody. We will do everything
possible to implement the law of the land,” said Inspector General of
Police Manoj Abraham. “None will be allowed to take law into their
hands.”

But some female worshippers were prevented from proceeding to the temple site on Wednesday.

A lone woman traveling to Sabarimala by bus was stopped at the bus stand near the gateway by a group of protesters.

The woman, identified as Libi by local language channel Asianet News, came from the neighboring district of Alappuzha.

“When democracy and the Supreme Court order are being defied by
protesters, I have come with the firm intent of visiting Sabarimala,”
Libi, who uses only one name, told the channel.

“I am not scared. The police are providing full security. I have come alone,” she said, adding she was ready to face trouble.
Police have registered cases against more than 50 people in connection with the incident, media reports said.

A family of four from neighboring Andhra Pradesh state, including at
least one woman, were shielded by police carrying sticks after
protesters shouting slogans prevented them from reaching the temple.

Overnight, police cleared hundreds of protesters from a site in Nilakkal
and said no new protesters would be allowed to gather near the temple.
There were at least six arrests, with a group of three arrested in
connection with an assault on a woman and her husband from the
neighboring state of Tamil Nadu.
Pilgrims have for centuries visited the Sabarimala temple, in a remote tiger reserve in the Western Ghats mountain range.

Many of those visiting the site take a vow of celibacy for 41 days
before beginning a trek through the mountains to the temple, located
around 3,000 feet above sea level, according to the temple’s website.